Reuters: Iran’s parliament speaker called on Muslim nations on Sunday to boycott Dutch products in response to a film by a Dutch lawmaker that accuses the Koran of inciting violence, Iranian media reported. TEHRAN (Reuters) – Iran’s parliament speaker called on Muslim nations on Sunday to boycott Dutch products in response to a film by a Dutch lawmaker that accuses the Koran of inciting violence, Iranian media reported.
“The best reaction by the Islamic world is to avoid buying products made in those countries that allow themselves to insult Islam,” Iran’s state broadcaster IRIB quoted parliamentary speaker Gholamali Haddadadel as saying.
Haddadadel said European countries “would retreat from the path they are taking once they see their economies are in danger.”
Geert Wilders, leader of the anti-immigration Freedom Party in the Netherlands, launched his short video on the Internet last month, drawing condemnation from Muslim nations including Iran and Indonesia.
A group of about 40 hardline students held a peaceful demonstration outside the Dutch embassy in Tehran on Saturday.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry summoned the Dutch ambassador to Tehran last month to protest against the video and called it “heinous and blasphemous.”
Wilders’ film urges Muslims to tear out “hate-filled” verses from the Koran, mixing images of bombings with quotations from Islam’s holy book.
The video starts and ends with a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammad with a bomb under his turban, accompanied by the sound of ticking.
The cartoon, first published in Danish newspapers, ignited violent protests around the world in 2006. More than 50 people were killed in those riots in Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
(Writing by Zahra Hosseinian; editing by Robert Woodward)
